China Green Building Label (GBL) rating standard defines green buildings as high-quality buildings that save resources, protect the environment, reduce pollution, provide healthy, suitable, and efficient spaces for people throughout the building's lifecycle, and achieve harmonious coexistence between humans and nature to the greatest extent possible. The definition emphasizes the occupants' feelings towards green buildings and to some extent points out the development direction of green buildings at the current stage.

GBL standard consist of six categories: safety and durability, health and comfort, convenience of living, resource conservation, environmental friendliness, and improvement and innovation. These six categories cover the basic elements of green buildings, including the planning and design, construction, operation management, and recycling evaluation indicators subsystems throughout the building's lifecycle.

In GBL certification, each of the above categories includes prerequisites and score points. Green buildings must meet all the requirements of the prerequisites, and their certification level is determined by the sum of scores in each category.

The maximum score for green building certification is 110 points, and certification levels are divided into four levels from low to high, with the following score requirements:

• Basic level: meets control items;

• One-star level: 60-69 points;

• Two-star level: 70-84 points;

• Three-star level: 85-110 points.